Edgard Coly

Professor Coly joined the Institute after completing his Doctorate at the University of Colorado-Boulder where he also taught. He gave lectures for the Center for Teaching International Relations (CTIR) at the University of Denver. Prior to his postgraduate work, Professor Coly taught French to foreign service officers for their language exam. He also trained Peace Corps volunteers in French, Wolof and Jola. His professional experience also includes teaching French and African History to Youth at Risk at Washington Ethical High School.

His work has appeared in a Senegalese newspaper Le Cafard Libéré and in Contes et Mythes du Sénégal, a compilation of short stories. He is an active member of American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), African Literatures Association (ALA), NAACP Monterey Peninsula Branch (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), and the Modern Language Association (MLA).

Expertise

African politics and cultures, Africa in the arena of globalization, contemporary France, Francophone literature, twentieth century French literature, postmodernism and postcolonial theory

Recent Accomplishments

Courses offered in the past four years. ▲indicates offered in the current term▹indicates offered in the upcoming term[s]

FRLA 8310 - Social Issues Contemp France I

This course aims at informing students about contemporary France. It will also aim at improving students’ oral and written competencies in French. This course is linguistically accessible. Readings are mostly from the chapters of the sole required book. The readings are approximately 15 pages a week, divided in segments of two. The course will be looking at the following issues:

1. Social life: family and sexuality, work and leisure, social welfare.

2. Cultural life: religions, immigration and education.

3. Information and technology: media, technology and trade.

Besides the readings from the book: Edmiston & Duménil, La France Contemporaine, 4th edition. (Heinle Cengage Learning, 2009), students will watch the news from TV5 or France24 and search the internet for supplementary information. Furthermore, a student will be chosen each day to summarize a one-page article from the editorial page of Le Monde; an exercise that will allow students to be up-to date with French life. www.lemonde.fr

Students will practice the lexicon and structures that are related to their professional goals through class discussions and readings.

There will be a grammar component on structures that may be problematic to most of the students.

This class will focus mostly on improving speaking, reading and listening skills. The writing component of language acquisition will weigh less than other skills.

FRLA 8320 - Soc Issues in Contmp France II

The objective of this course is to inform students about issues in contemporary France, and also to improve their skills in oral and written communication. The course will deal with the following issues:

1. France and Europe: the geography of France, Paris and the urban life, the regions and provinces, languages spoken in France, the European union.

2. The political life: the French Republic, the State, the political parties and elections.

In addition to the readings from the book La France Contemporaine 4th edition by Edmiston and Dumémil (Heinle Cengage Learning, 2009), students will watch news from the French TV stations France 2 or TV5and will do research using the internet, newspapers, and periodicals available at the MIIS library.

Students will practice using the lexicon and structures relevant to their professional objectives. They will have short oral presentations and writing assignments in which they will review the lexicon and grammatical structures encountered in the readings. The course will also include the review of grammar points that pose difficulties for non-native speakers.

Working in groups of 2, students will prepare an oral presentation on a contemporary topic not covered in class.

The level of French required for this course is about the equivalent of four semesters of college French. Students should be able to communicate their ideas clearly both orally and in writing.

FRLA 8325 - PublicHealthInSubSaharanAfrica

This course is linguistically the most challenging among the 300 level courses. A strong knowledge of technical vocabulary related to health issues is required.

In this course, we will explore some of the most pressing health issues in sub-Saharan Africa. Our focus will be on the following areas:

- The work of African governments and NGOs in the area of public health.

- Infectious diseases (AIDS not included)

- HIV – AIDS

- Malnutrition

- Access to drinking water and decontamination

- Immigration and public health

- Public health in times of conflict

The professor will introduce each module, then each student will pick a topic within the module and present a case study at the end of which, they will suggest a solution that may lead to solving the problem.

This class will target all four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing
The level of French proficiency recommended is Intermediate High to Advanced Low on the ACTFL language proficiency scale.

FRLA 8335 - Topics in French

FRLA 8343 - ChallengesInPeaceBldng-Senegal

FRLA 8383 - Reclaim Cultr/Pwr:Franc Africa

Explores the cultural and political influence of former colonizers - and - on Africa. The struggle to gain independence through the deconstruction of the myth of European superiority. Post-independence: rejection / adaptation of European political systems and cultures.

FRLA 8418 - China&AfricaDevl/HumanSecurity

FRLA 8483 - Security/Democracy in Africa

FRLA 8485 - Africa & Millennium Dev Goals

This class addresses the challenges African States face in their quest to meet the Millennium Development Goals by

In the wake of the Cold War, many global social problems have emerged that have engaged the international community. One of these problem is the growing level of insecurity and armed violence that is preventing and interfering with desperately needed economic, social and political development, especially in fragile states emerging from conflict.

This courses explores the following (among others)

Human security: lack of freedom, injustice, forced (im)migrations

Disarmament, demobilization and reinsertion of ex-combatants

Gender inequality

Trade

This course targets all four language proficiency skills: speaking, reading, listening and writing.

FRLA 8497 - Human Security

This course is a part of the Monterey Model course and will introduce the concept of human security, its development and real-world applications, and implications for international policy through illustrative case examples.
The concept of "human security" was first introduced in the 1994 Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Program. It has since attracted growing attention in the academic and policy communities around the world. The concept has also become part of official policy, particularly in Japan and Canada. In contrast to the traditional concept of "national security" with its focus on the security of the state against military threats, "human security" emphasizes the protection of individual citizens’ security not only from war and other forms of physical violence but also from threats of a political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental nature. At the most fundamental level, “human security” has two components, human development and human dignity/human rights.